Ch 3: Compromise
by animefan1321
Summary: This chapter is about how Stein and Marie cope with living together as roommates. Also, how Marie deals with Stein's bouts of madness.


Chapter 3: Compromise

Stein's typing continued vigorously on the keys, as his glasses covered his eyes. He was trying to come up with more ideas for various experiments that he would find intriguing. This turned out to be more difficult than usual. His thoughts kept replaying the incident that happened with Marie in his head. He tried to push the thought away, but it ate at him like a disease. Not being able to take the nagging feeling, he turned the screw in his head a few more times in order to clear out his thoughts. _Click. Click. Click. Click. __"__There, now that__'__s much better.__"_

It had been a couple of weeks and Marie was fully healed from her injuries. She was in the kitchen humming a song quietly, while making Stein some food. If she wasn't there, she was sure Stein would continue to push himself past his limits, grading assignments late into the evening, and not taking care of himself. "_He__'__s been more quiet than usual lately. I hope nothing is the matter.__"_ Marie thought to herself, and letting out a sigh from her mouth. She had finished preparing the food for the two of them. It consisted of grilled chicken, an egg omelet with green onions, and rice. The fragrance radiated throughout Stein's lab. He could smell the scent of food through his door, as he was still typing up some information.

A knock on the door distracted Stein from his thoughts. "Stein, dinner is ready!" She had stated before walking towards the table with two chairs on either side. The table was a dark brown, while the chairs were black and white. She had brought the dining set, couches, and plants herself, since Stein's patchwork laboratory was devoid of any house hold items.

It was consisting mostly of gray, white, and a shelf full of books. For Marie, she wanted to make it more home-like by bringing in some various items that would make her feel better.

Even though the arrangement seemed out of the ordinary, they were able to make due. Stein allowed Marie to bring in her items, and he was comfortable with her using his beakers to make tea if needed. They respected each other's space comfortably. Stein opened the door to his room, and he walked over to the table Marie had set for them. He did not say anything as he sat down, glancing at the food before him. Marie simply smiled at the scientist. "I hope you enjoy the meal" She stated in a happy tone. Stein's eyes widened, then he regained his composure with a nod of his head. "Thank you Marie." He stated cooly before the two of them began to eat.

"_How is she being so calm about this? Why is she not upset at me for what I did? It was my fault she got injured in the first place.__" _Stein's mind began to race once more, and it was making him uneasy.

"Is something the matter Stein?" Marie asked after she had taken a bite of her food. She tilted her head to the side looking at him with her caramel eye. "You seem to be acting strangely lately. You've been staying in your room more than normal." She stated before looking at him with concern. Stein looked up at his partner, and saw that her soul was feeling worried right now. "It's nothing to be concerned about Marie…I'm perfectly fine." He stated to her in his usual indifferent manner. He continued to eat his food until he was finished, and stood up from the chair walking towards his room, before closing the door quietly. He leaned against the door frame, clutching his head at how he had behaved towards his partner. She probably knew he wasn't telling the truth about the situation. He didn't know how she would react if he told her. Not only that, he was not sure how long he'd be able to keep his collected mindset. The madness wavelength hadn't weakened much since their fight against the Kishin. Stein groaned, as he slid down against the door frame, gripping his head in his right hand. He was trying desperately to keep himself calm. He didn't want to say anything unnecessary to Marie about what happened, and end up causing her any more pain. Yet instead of physically, it'd end up being emotional damage. Those types were not capable of being healed so easily.

Marie had cleared the dishes after they were done eating. She went to the sink, and the sound of warm water was rushing from the faucet. She dried the fragile items with white wash cloths before putting them away neatly. It was already close to 9:00pm. She decided to change into her clothes to go to bed. She went upstairs, walking past Stein's room. She wanted to head in, but thought it was best not to do so at the moment. "_He may get angry.__" _Marie was in her room and soon fell asleep on her bed. It had light blue sheets and sky blue pillows. When it was about 2 hours, the sound of Stein's voice woke her up from her slumber. She walked over to his room, opening the door to the male's room.

"I told you to leave me alone already!" The male stated in an angry tone. He was slouched on his bed. His eyes glancing around as if someone had been in the room. The various hallucinations were happening. It was simply another side effect of the madness that continued to eat away at him. "Stein…are you alright? There's no one here but us ok?" She stated in a voice that had a large amount of concern in it. She walked over to him, and he continued to mutter some sentences incoherently at the supposed kishin that was making Stein irritable.

"It's alright Stein. Please calm down." She stated placing her hand over the male's strong one. Stein glanced up at Marie, then smacked her hand away. "It's still there! Why are you still there? This nightmare won't leave me alone." He stated sounding rather irritable, as he ran his hand through his silver gray hair. There was sweat dripping from his face. Marie reached into her pocket and took out a blue handkerchief. She tried to be patient with Stein when he got into one of his fits. There was a sad expression on her face, as she reached her hand over to clean Stein's face. "Stein?" She said quietly before her eye widened at his current expression. She never saw him with such a painful expression on his face before. It caught her off guard. She stood up and glanced at him. "I'm sorry…I probably should leave you to be alone, shouldn't I?" She stated with a hurt expression on her face. She pulled the blanket over Stein's shoulders and stood up turning around to walk towards the door.

Stein's eyes widened as she turned to leave. After a few minutes, he had calmed down. She shouldn't be apologizing. She had done nothing wrong. A part of him did not want her to go. Even though, he tried to remain in control; he still ended up hurting her. Why did it happen again? He let out a small sigh, and quickly stood up walking towards his partner, and grabbing her by the hand. It was not a strong hold though, yet bearable. Marie stopped and glanced back at Stein, her eye still holding a surprised expression. Stein was not one for showing any type of emotional or physical contact with others. "Marie…Wait." Stein stated, his voice losing its usual calm tone.

"Tell me something Marie. Why…Why are you not infuriated with me right now? Don't you remember, it was my fault you got hurt during that mission? So how come you're so calm about this? I just don't understand. Don't…you hate me for what I did?" His head was hanging down before making eye contact with his weapon partner.

Stein's soul was uneasy and nervous. He was worried Marie would be angry and possibly slap him for his calculated and cold words. Marie was quiet for a moment, and turned around to face her partner. "I understand that it was not your fault. You weren't thinking clearly due to the madness wavelength. I can never hate you Stein. The fact that you're feeling guilt over this, still shows you're not completely void of emotions. I forgive you. I know you didn't mean it." She stated placing her other hand over Stein's. "I…was worried that you didn't want to be around me anymore. You were being more withdrawn than usual. I did not understand why. I was feeling confused." She stated looking down. Stein could sense that her soul wavelength was becoming nervous.

Stein's eyes widened and he let out a sigh. "That would never be the case. I don't mind you continuing to stay here." He said quietly regaining his collected manner once more. Marie let go of his hand and smiled at him before turning around. "Alright. I'm so glad." She said in a chipper tone. Stein simply said "Thank You" to her. Nothing else could come to mind that he wanted to say. It perplexed Stein how quickly Marie's emotions would fluctuate. He never could understand it himself. She told him "Good Night" and left his room to retreat for the evening. The door had closed and Stein retreated to his bed for the evening to get some much needed rest.


End file.
